Winter has drifted into spring and the temperature is slowly climbing into the "no jacket required" zone.
While winter held sway on the wilderness; I would open the barn door; behind which my prospector canoe hung upside down from the ceiling joists. The canoe seemed to stare at me and ask if it was time to take her down. I would touch her hull and whisper a simple word "Soon".
The tracing of snow we received this year; began to melt and the forest started to fill with the sounds of missing friends as they alighted on branches and called out to their mates.
During this time of seasonal transition, I would wander to the edge of a nearby lake and test the ice which clung to the waters surface as if trying to defy the rising temperatures.
One of those wanders provided me a green light to take my canoe down; set her up for a new season of paddling; and set off on a short excursion to find the skills which had been dormant for many months.
The video posted is simply an account of that first paddle of 2024.
You must remember that as the years slip past us, it leaves us with fewer years remaining to enjoy that which makes our hearts fulfilled. Don't procrastinate doing that which you love to do - just do it; because tomorrow is indeed, just around the corner.
When the time comes that I can no longer paddle, I will be able to look back at these images and feel what it was to hold the paddle and face the wind and waves as a man of the wilderness.
